Castle Walls
by xHalosandwings
Summary: Request for XxFutureWWEDivaxX. Mickie James' return to the WWE isn't the fairytale she hoped it would be but there's always someone there with a little reassurance. Mickie/Justin


Request for _XxFutureWWEDivaxX. _  
When it came to this fic, I wrote about 2000 words for a story and hated it. Somehow, I got serious Mickie/Justin writers block...  
Then last night, I was listening to the song below and inspiration hit - I recommend you listen to it, it's awesome.  
Hope you enjoy :)

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**CASTLE WALLS**

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_Everyone thinks that I have it all  
__But it's so empty living behind these castle walls  
__These castle walls  
__If I should tumble, if I should fall  
__Would any one hear me screaming behind these castle walls?  
__There's no-one here at all, behind these castle walls_

'**Castle Walls' – T.I ft Christina Aguilera**

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To say it was lonely at the top was an understatement in Mickie's eyes. What was supposed to be her triumphant return was nothing more than a complete misery.

Perhaps it was naive of her to think that she could just come back and be shot straight to the top. Eve, Melina and Natalya were feuding for the Divas title on Raw whilst she was on Smackdown, stuck in a rut with nothing to do but stand around backstage, hoping for some camera time.

Why had the WWE begged her to come back if they barely used her? In TNA, she was competing in show-stealing matches and was scarcely without gold around her waist? Did WWE really just want to spite TNA that much by getting their most popular knockout to jump ship? The money may have been better but with hindsight, it just wasn't worth it.

Everything had changed since her last run in the WWE. People were different. Well, Michelle and Layla were the same crazy bitches but the other Smackdown girls...Beth was much more aloof and didn't really talk to anyone, Rosa only hung out with the guys and then there was Mickie's former friend Kelly.

Kelly wasn't the sweet, kind-hearted girl Mickie had once been a mentor to. The brunette's departure was the blonde's time to shine and Kelly relished being in the limelight, feuding with Laycool and being in storylines with top superstars like Edge and Drew McIntyre. It seemed kinda crazy to Mickie, considering she thought Kelly had limited ring-skills and lousy acting.

It was Kelly that Mickie first saw as she entered the women's locker room, ready to tape that night's Smackdown. The blonde was slipping into a tight royal blue body-con dress for her backstage segment with Drew.

"Hi Kelly." Mickie greeted her with a smile as she put down her duffel bag and pulled out her kneepads.

"Have you got a match tonight?" Kelly seemed shocked Mickie was actually doing something.

She nodded. "Against Layla."

"A win or a loss?"

With reluctance, Mickie admitted "A loss."

"That's too bad." Kelly said with a condescending smile. "Well, a match is a match, I guess."

It took everything in Mickie's power not to slap the smug look off Kelly's face so instead, she simply said "Cute dress, Kelly. I love the colour."

"Thanks, it was a present from Justin." Of course, it was inevitable that as well as her career going perfectly, Kelly had the perfect boyfriend in the form of The Corre member Justin Gabriel.

Normally she didn't care about who was dating who in the locker room but there was something about their relationship that really bothered her. Perhaps it was the fact she and Justin dated before she was released from the WWE? Yeah, it was probably that. It was never really serious between them. She was the Divas champ and he was the NXT rookie...there were no wedding rings in their future but it was easy because they got along and had fun.

Anyway, when Mickie was released, it seemed pointless carrying on their relationship so it pretty much ended without confirmation. Kelly didn't seem to be aware of girl-code, however, as pretty much straight off the bat, she made the moves on Justin. Mickie wasn't angry at Justin about it; boys will be boys but Kelly knew better and still went for him.

"It's a cute dress. When I was with Justin, all he ever bought me was lingerie." Mickie said with as straight a face as she could manage. Yes, it was immature but she was so sick of Kelly and wanted to shut her up. Unfortunately, her comments did the exact opposite.

"Oh, so you're a comedian now? At least you have something to work for." She stormed over to Mickie so the two divas were nose to nose – well, as much so as possible. Kelly was taller than Mickie anyway so in heels, she looked huge. To Mickie, there was no competition in a fight; she could show the blonde a thing or two. "You're pathetic, Mickie James."

"_I'm_ pathetic? Please. I may have made some mistakes in the past but I've never changed who I am. But you?" She looked Kelly up and down. "You're not the girl you used to be. What happened to you?"

"I found out being nice gets you nowhere around here. I was the nice girl for a long time but everyone just walked all over me and I hated it. So you left and things changed. Someone needed to take over where you left off and I was the girl to do it. Why did you even bother coming back? Was this really worth the money? You left on a high note and now you've ruined it. I pity you, Mickie. You're past it."

Kelly didn't need to say anything else, her words stinging Mickie as she flounced out of the locker room.

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Sometimes Justin wondered if he'd made big mistakes in his WWE career.

On series one of NXT, he was the golden boy. Everyone spoke about 'what a bright future Justin Gabriel had'. That didn't stop him coming in second to Wade Barrett. Shortly after, the rookies reunited and decided to take over Raw and Justin may not have agreed with many of the choices Nexus made but he went from being the guy with all the promise to the guy fighting John Cena and Randy Orton, which wasn't a bad spot to be in.

He could've walked away; Daniel Bryan did. Bryan even approached Justin, trying to change his mind. "We're better than sneak attacks and doing Wade's dirty work. We don't need Nexus." Maybe Justin didn't need Nexus but he couldn't risk losing the lucrative spot he was in so he stuck with them.

Things changed though and Justin was forced to choose a leader, either old friend Wade or big player CM Punk. You could accuse Justin of a lot but you couldn't deny his loyalty because he chose Wade. Along with Heath Slater, Ezekiel Jackson and Wade, they moved to Smackdown and formed The Corre. It didn't matter what Wade said, though, The Corre were no better than the Nexus.

"Ready for your match?" Wade came through the door of the locker room having just finished an interview with Todd Grisham.

_Yes Wade, I'm ready for the Big Show to punch my teeth down my throat. _"I've got it covered." He responded coolly.

"Well, I've told Zeke he'll be coming to ringside with you for back-up and if worse comes to worse, Heath and I will be ready backstage."

_Yes Wade, how reassuring to know that once I've had my ass kicked, Zeke will be there to drag me up the aisle and into the medical room. _"I'm gonna get a drink."

"Right, tell Kelly I say hi." Wade said with a smirk. "Don't act like you're not going to see her." The truth was, Justin _wasn't_ going to. As much as he hated to admit it, his girlfriend was a rebound that had lasted a little too long.

After Mickie, there seemed nothing wrong with going on a date with her but unfortunately, her good looks were only distracting for so long and he began to wonder whether the girl underneath was worth the effort. She was clingy and whiney and despite the positive front she put on, she never had a good word to say about any of the divas or former divas as it was in the case of Mickie. Clearly Kelly was threatened by Mickie and Justin's past relationship, as she felt the need to so constantly bring up how awful the brunette was. If she just moved on like he had, there'd be no problems.

Justin grabbed a bottle of water from catering and upon spotting an 'EXIT' door, he made his way outside into the cold evening air, resting his elbows against some railings and drinking from his water bottle.

"What do you have to be annoyed about?"

He didn't realise that a couple of metres away, also with her elbows against the railings was Mickie. His ex-girlfriend was wearing her blue ring attire with a black hoodie over the top to stop her getting cold. She hadn't been to hair and make-up yet as her brown locks were in a ponytail and her face bare; not that she needed any of that stuff anyway.

"It's just been one of those days." He replied with a shrug, his eyes fixed on hers now. There was distance between them but just looking at her, they felt closer than ever.

"Know the feeling." She offered a sympathetic smile.

"And what're you doing out here?" Cautiously, he walked over to her and leaned against the bars, still keeping a safe enough distance but not so far he had to raise his voice anymore.

Mickie bit down on her lip, as if she was reconsidering what she originally wanted to say before coming right out and saying it. "I'm beginning to wonder if coming back here was a mistake."

"Are you serious? Come on Micks, you know that's not the truth."

"Really?" She arched an eyebrow, turning away from her ex. "Because your girlfriend certainly thinks it is."

"Since when did you ever care what Kelly thought?" Yes, Justin knew he shouldn't be going against his girlfriend but Mickie was clearly upset. He dared to inch a little closer to her until their arms were brushing. There was history between them and it could be felt in something as innocent as a touch. "If it's any consolation, I was happy to see you back."

She cocked her head to the side, a wry smile sitting on her lips. "Should you be saying things like that?"

"Kelly doesn't control me."

"Who said I was talking about Kelly?" They exchanged smiles before returning to the silence that had previous settled between them. It was just like old times, except for without the stress and irritating girlfriends. Justin broke the quiet, saying "You're one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time. So what if things aren't perfect right now? Things happen and things resolve themselves."

Nodding slowly at what he said, Mickie tilted her head to the side and asked "Do you ever feel lonely, Justin? You can put on a good front but no-one really knows what's going on?"

He returned her nod. "Do you?"

"All the time."

"Well, surely if there's someone else that feels the same way, you can't be that alone, can you?" He moved closer to her, his lips edging towards hers but before anything could happen, a screech came from inside that startled them both and stopped them in their tracks.

"_Has anyone seen Justin? I can't find him anywhere!" _Kelly's voice was too irritating for them to ignore as they both covered their mouths to stop themselves laughing too loud.

"Please go in and find her, I don't think anyone should have to listen to that anymore." Mickie placed a hand on Justin's arm, smiling lightly. "Honestly, I'm fine."

He nodded shyly and went back into the arena, leaving Mickie on her own outside. Kelly was still a bitch and she still had to lose her match tonight but courtesy of her ex, Mickie felt a lot better. She hadn't expected anything of him – they weren't together anymore – and yet he suddenly seemed like the one good thing in her life.

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Please **review** :) xx


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